PTO sponsors this weekend's Long Grove Art Fest

The Long Grove Art Fest this weekend will do more than just showcase the work of 90 juried artists and provide the public with unusual pieces to take home.

It will also help students at Kildeer-Countryside School get their own education in the arts.

The proceeds from this year's 20th annual Art Fest will go to the school's PTO, which uses the money for its cultural arts program.

Most of the artists are local, although the fair has attracted attention from a wider area. There are artists coming from Florida and Arizona, for instance.

"There are definitely returning artists and new artists," said Michele Murphy, the vice president of the PTO, which organizes the festival. "We try to have a variety."

She said there will be a range of art, from jewelry to clay to painting.

Local restaurants, such as Long Grove Cafe and Gridley's, will have food for sale, and a beer and wine tent will also be set up. Live music will play on two stages.

Murphy said the cultural arts programs at Kildeer-Countryside change from year to year.

"Some of it's educational ... some of it is to truly help kids understand what theater and arts are about," she said. One group, for example, came into the school to demonstrate recycling.

Last year, a theater troupe visited early in the school year and did skits and short plays written by students from other schools. Afterward, Kildeer-Countryside students wrote their own plays, and the actors returned to perform them.

Murphy said the cultural arts program helps children see the results of their efforts and be exposed to everything from the stage to music.

In keeping with the theme of children's artistic endeavors, the Long Grove Art Fest this weekend will also feature a Kid's Korner so younger participants can be exposed to different crafts.

For more details on the festival, contact (708) 212-3518 or www.longgroveoline.com.